A lot of years I have been terrible about canning up our tomatoes. I’ll freeze them for later and then forget about them in the deep freezer never to see them again.

This year I’m trying to be better. Small batch recipes are my favorite, simply because they’re quick to make with my limited time. So far I’ve made pizza sauce, which we have been using a lot of for homemade pizzas, and today I’m doing crushed tomatoes for use with pasta recipes. There’s still a pile of tomatoes ripening in the garden so I’ll have to research more recipe ideas (or just load up on pizza sauce)

Hi friends. How are you? Things around here are slowly but surely getting into a rhythm and new routines. I switched jobs last month, which has been very much helpful overall to my mental health and sanity. Slowly I am starting to feel more like myself, which has meant more baking and crafting and, overall, the things I used to do and love.

With the holidays coming up, I’ve thrown myself into my holiday treat making. This week we made candied orange peels, while the Little Mr chowed down on the oranges when he was supposed to be juicing them for our breakfast orange juice. I can’t complain, really, because it kept him occupied. We played Christmas music and danced and laughed and, overall, had a lovely time together in the kitchen. Today I’m baking molasses cookies, and I’m supposed to be baking chocolate mint cookies, too, but at the rate I’m going I might just do those later this week. Now that I’m not stressed so much I’m finding that I actually have energy to come home and bake and cook again, so it’s easier to plan on that.

I think I’ve also decided to go full ahead with the garden again, this year. Can you believe that? Who knew a bad job could suck so much life out of you?! I’ve even begun thinking of 2018 and how I want to do things differently, now that I have some room to breathe again. Be more centered, I guess, and conscious of the ways I’m spending my time. I’ve started journaling (in a real, paper journal) because some things just aren’t really meant for the public to read and I think that’s helped a lot with some things. I want to start reading again, too. Right now I’m kind of cheating the system and borrowing ebooks from the library to read on my kindle and then turning off network so I still have the book long after my loan expires…. It’s taking me far too long to read a book these days and that’s a shame, really. So if you’ve got any book recommendations, please pass them my way!

I’m trying to think of something to do with the Little Mr for Solstice. It’s something I always want to do and then we never do. Maybe some bird seed ornaments for the tree outside? A craft of some sort? I haven’t decided what, exactly, I want to teach him about the solstice. Part of me loves the folklore/pagan roots of it all, so maybe we’ll explore that.

Nothing new to really report, craft-wise. I have more projects on the needles than I really need and I’ve had a commission or two come up from totally knit-worthy people, so I need to get a move on with those. I’ve always said I wouldn’t take on omissions for my work, but I’ve started making the exception for people I know will truly appreciate the items and so far it’s been a really enjoyable experience. I have been spinning, slowly, too – working on a bit of pretty fiber that I might use to make a pair of mittens out of. I think that’s going to be part of my 2018 goals, too – to spin more, and then actually use my yarn.

I kept busy this weekend with canning. The store had some produce on sale, so I came home with ingredients to make strawberry lemon jam, more sriracha peach sauce, apples for applesauce, cider for a mustard glaze (need to find the mustard seed in bulk, first), and got to work. And then, today, after going thrift store shopping for clothes for the Little Mr (because winter is coming and he’s growing like a weed), my mom handed me this. A giant basket of free pears straight from her tree. Free produce to can and preserve and feed us through winter, should we need it.

Maybe this job loss is what I needed. A reason to get back to my roots, my canning and preserving and being more frugal. Though, it probably would have been better if I had been the one to lose my job, instead, so I’d have more time to make foods from scratch for cheap… but it is what it is.

Found this little cutie taking advantage of my laziness and getting the pollen off my flowering basil. I have a kid-free evening, and decided to throw together a quick garden harvest meal (roasted eggplant, tomatoes, and fresh basil drizzled with some garlic olive oil, served over some pasta… it smells amazing so I’m hoping it tastes just as amazing), so I’m thrilled that coincidence of it all led to getting to watch this little one work for a bit and take a few (blurry) photos. ♥

I can’t decide if I want to curl up with a book and read, or watch a show and knit with this alone time. There are too many possibilities to choose from!

A few weeks ago the Peach Truck, as it is known, was supposed to visit our town. My best friend and I agreed to buy a box and split it, and when her husband went to buy them for us we were sorely disappointed to learn the truck broke down and wouldn’t be visiting our area at all. I had everything planned out to make – pie, jam, grilled with some pork… all of those plans were over.

Today at the local farmers market was a vendor who had Georgia peaches. And even getting there right around opening time the large boxes were still sold before I got to them. So, $10 later, I came home with about 10 really large, crazy delicious peaches. 7 of them are getting turned into small batch jam (salted brown sugar and sriracha, both from “Preserving by the Pint”), the kid and I ate one, and there is just two left. Maybe I’ll grill those.

It feels really good to be in the kitchen and doing what I used to love. I’m trying lately to really make an effort to not let the kid prevent me from, well, being me. It’s so easy to say “I can’t do that anymore because he always makes it harder” but he is getting better about things. And if I don’t take time out to do the things I love then I’m going to be a batshitcrazy nightmare to be around (which I’ve totally been these last few days). Also, the tv makes an excellent babysitter when need be, and any parent who says otherwise is lying. :)

Welcome

Pardon the garden. A phrase I’m most likely to utter anytime anyone visits the house during the growing seasons of spring through fall. Sure, there are pretty flowers and delicious veggies in there somewhere, but they might be a little hard to find amidst the mess of overgrown grass, dandelions, and weeds that have found their way in there and haven’t been pulled. Read On